This book offers a quantitative and qualitative look at the much-discussed BRICS--Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa--and explores how their economic ascent might cause global economic realignments in the 21st century. Providing a Chinese perspective on how the global realignment might impact strategic choices and a data-driven approach to the similarities and differences within the so-called BRICS group, this book will be of great interest to economists, international banking professionals, and political forecasters.